On Thursday, 24th July 2025, the CSIR-Crops Research Institute (CSIR-CRI) successfully organised a rice field day at the Dawhenya Irrigation Scheme to showcase 16 improved rice varieties, including seven newly developed lines.
A major highlight was a high-yielding, highly aromatic, and Rice Yellow Mottle Virus-resistant line developed through DNA marker-assisted backcrossing — a scientific breakthrough that originated from a project I initiated and for which I recruited Kirpal Agyemang Ofosu as a PhD student.
He is now a rice breeder at CSIR-CRI and continues to advance this important work. Farmers overwhelmingly selected this line as their preferred choice during the programme.
The event brought together over 50 rice farmers from Dawhenya, Ashiaman, Kpong Irrigation Scheme, and Aveyime, alongside seed companies, rice value chain actors (including Newage and Jospong’s AAC), the media, officials from the Irrigation Development Authority, MOFA, and PPRSD.
As part of the event, each participating farmer received 500g of our flagship variety, CRI-AGYAPA, to plant and evaluate on their own fields in the coming season.
We were honoured to host the Deputy Director-General of CSIR, Prof. Marian Quain, and the Minister for Food and Agriculture’s Technical Advisor, Hon. Kwasi Etu-Bonde, who pledged the Ministry’s full support for our work.
This activity forms part of the K Rice Belt Project, sponsored by the Rural Development Administration (RDA) of Korea through KOPIA Ghana, whose delegation was led by their new Director, Dr. Kim Young Jin. Under this project, CSIR-CRI produces breeder and foundation seeds of stakeholder-preferred varieties and provides technical backstopping to farmers for certified seed production. Last year alone, 300 MT of certified rice seeds were donated to the Government of Ghana, and this year we expect to exceed 400 MT.
These achievements are a bold step towards making Ghana rice self-sufficient and ensuring food security through science-driven innovations
